Baylis adds another notch to her belt

by Courtesy ISAF on 19 Nov 2003 Liz Baylis (San Rafael, CA) can now add the title of U.S. Women’s Match Racing Champion to her already impressive list of sailing titles.

Baylis won US Sailing’s U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship on Sunday, defeating Carol Cronin (Jamestown, RI) by 2-0 in the final. ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year nominee Hannah Swett (Jamestown, RI/New York, NY) won the Petit Finals with a 2-0 record over Sally Barkow (Nashotah, WI). The event, sponsored by Rolex Watch U.S.A., was hosted by Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans, LA, and sailed in J/22s equipped with sails donated by BoatU.S.

Baylis and her crew of Nancy Haberland (Annapolis, MD), Karina Shelton (Watsonville, CA), and Aimee Hess (Alameda, CA) aren’t new to the women’s match racing scene. Earlier this year, this team won the BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup and finished fourth at the ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship.

In 2002, skipper Baylis won the World Championship title and received the coveted Rolex U.S Yachtswoman of the Year award. By winning the U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship, Baylis and crew were awarded the Allegra Knapp Mertz Trophy.

Since Baylis was already qualified to race in the 2004 World Women’s Match Racing Championship, runner-up skipper Carol Cronin has now qualified to fill the ‘host country slot’ at the World Championship.

The event will be held in early June of 2004 and hosted by Eastport Yacht Club in Annapolis, MD. Cronin and her crew of Liz Merrifield Filter (Stevensville, MD), Linda Epstein (Arlington, MA) and JoAnn Fisher (Annapolis, MD) were presented with the Mrs. Charles Francis Adams Memorial Trophy for finishing second at the US Saiing Championship.

For complete results and daily reports of the U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship, please visit the event website at the address below.

Event Website: www.ussailing.org/championships/womens